ABSTRACT
The electron had only been discovered a few years earlier, and its behavior and properties were still not well understood. Quantum mechanics and special relativity were unknown conceptual frameworks for describing the physical world. Particle physics can be regarded as the subdiscipline that pushes the atomic idea as far as possible. One of things that distinguishes particle physics from most other subdisciplines in physics is in its approach to the natural world. Most of our experimental knowledge of particle physics comes from colliding particles together at very high speeds, resulting in very energetic collisions. The early universe was an environment of a hot plasma of all kinds of particles. The average temperature – and hence the average collision energy – was very high, much higher than can be attained in controlled terrestrial experiments. Computers have gone from playing a supplementary role in analyzing data to an essential role in working out the consquences of physical theory.
